The green sisterhood agreement between Davao City and Kitakyushu in Japan is bolstered by the creation by Mayor Sara Duterte of a technical working group to facilitate the environmental protection measures of the local government.
Last December, Duterte signed Executive order No. 40 or the creation of “a technical working group (TWG) to facilitate in the preparation of the local climate action plan of Davao City focusing on greenhosue gas (GHG) inventory, mitigation and adaptation”.
It is expected to strengthen the ties between the two cities.
“The technical working group will facilitate the preparation of the Climate Action Plan of Davao City focusing on greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, mitigation and adaptation,” Duterte said on Thursday.
Officials of the two cities met in May 2018 to kick off the preparation of the Davao City Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP). As stated under EO No. 40, the TWG is mandated to directly coordinate, collaborate and work with Japanese government representatives, national government offices, city government agencies and private entities.
The TWG is composed of the following: City Mayor’s Office as head with with the assistant city administrator for administration as permanent representative; the Office of the City Planning and Development Coordinator as the assistant head. Group members are the following: City Environment and Natural Resources Office; City Transport and Traffic Management Office; City Engineer’s Office; City Agriculturist’s Office; City Veterinarian’s Office; Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office; Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau; and one representative from the academe.
Last November 2017, both cities inked a memorandum of understanding to establish a green sister cooperation. Under the MOU, the two cities agreed the creation of low carbon society, resource recycling and capacity-building.
